A few MDORC members and their extended families decided to spend a couple of days/weeks at Inskip Point over the Christmas break. Although not a sanctioned MDORC trip, an invite was extended to any MDORC members that wished to join us for a day, a night or whatever. It commenced on Friday 16 December with 3 carloads and camper trailers pulling in to the Natone camping ground. Steve was about an hour ahead of Ross and Peter and managed to get stuck in the soft sand………. 4 times. However, being the resourceful man he is, he was able to self-recover each time using his recently fitted winch to his Foton Tunland. He is now investing in a lift kit. After a quick scout around, we settled on an area where we could all fit in close proximity and by putting our elbows out a bit, would have space if we had visitors for a night or two. The sites were named ‘The Terrace’ as Steve and Sherri had managed to get a beachfront site; they pulled up just as someone was packing up so they ‘assisted’ them in vacating the site. Ross and Jackie were just behind them at the ‘Valley Inn’ and Pete and Belinda tucked into a copse of trees that afforded them lots of protection and privacy so it was affectionately named ‘The Bunker’; little did they realise that a large group of young’uns were to arrive between Christmas and New Year and set up directly behind them. Although well-behaved, Belinda was sure she could have participated in most of their conversations.
A reasonably quick, but thorough setup was achieved in fairly quick time followed by a swim and a cleansing ale…… or three. Over the next week our numbers dwindled as people returned to work for the final week before Christmas leaving just Ross and Peter as caretakers, they did manage to find a cheeky Cabernet/Merlot in the local bottle shop at a door bust-er price that they tested on several occasions. Ross and Peter departed Inskip on Christmas eve to participate in Christmas festivities with families. However, by nightfall on Christmas Day, all had returned.
On Boxing Day they were joined by Deb and Ray and fitted nicely into a spot that was ‘reserved’ just for them. If anybody has been to Inskip before and experienced the influx of campers on Boxing Day, you will understand what a feat it was to keep their spot (good use of a Colorado). This spot was called ‘Back-of-Beyond’ but it was closer to the toilets. The next week was spent lazing around, visits to the lagoon, swims down the beach, some great new card games (thanks Debbie) and prac-ticing for New Years Eve.
We had a surprise visit from Oswald and Hannah who were camping at the Dorrigo campsite on 29 December but unfortunately were leaving the next day. Then Mossy contacted us to see if there was room for Tanya and himself for NYE, of course there was! They arrived just on dark and after a quick setup of the awning and swag, the festivities began. A great night was had by all and the evening produced a nice breeze so it wasn’t too hot or cold. A version of a card game Deb had taught us was played where the loser of each hand had to scull a shot. This was soon changed to the loser missed out on a shot and all the others got one; the night got ugly quick. Due to the current restrictions in the Cooloolah National Park, no fires could be lit however, a Star Shower plugged into a generator produced all the ambience necessary.
New Years Day saw a slow start and Nathan and Tanya packed up and headed back to reality. Our numbers slowly started to dwindle over the rest of the week as reality and re-turn to work dates loomed closer; Pete and Belinda and Deb and Ray left us on Tuesday 3 Jan and it seemed very lonely with our numbers literally halved. We still managed to enjoy lazy days of swimming and relaxing, saw a 15kg Golden Trevally caught of the beach, experienced a novel use of an 80 series Landcruiser (artificial reef), and witnessed many bog-gings by inexperienced and ill-equipped 4WDers. On Friday 6 January, 22 days after we pulled in, Ross and Steve hooked up their Camper Trailers and headed back to Brisvegas.
Highlights of the trip were the wonderful people who all pulled together to make it a most enjoyable time, new friends were made and laughs were had by all. The weather was a significant bonus; whilst it poured all around us, in the 22 days we were there, we only experienced 3 nights of intermittent showers and everybody had dry pack-ups regardless of when they left. Planning has already commenced for next year and the project is to design, develop and test a wind turbine to charge 12v batteries prior to next year. If anyone has any insight, please don’t hesitate to share.
Regards,
Ross Clark
A reasonably quick, but thorough setup was achieved in fairly quick time followed by a swim and a cleansing ale…… or three. Over the next week our numbers dwindled as people returned to work for the final week before Christmas leaving just Ross and Peter as caretakers, they did manage to find a cheeky Cabernet/Merlot in the local bottle shop at a door bust-er price that they tested on several occasions. Ross and Peter departed Inskip on Christmas eve to participate in Christmas festivities with families. However, by nightfall on Christmas Day, all had returned.
On Boxing Day they were joined by Deb and Ray and fitted nicely into a spot that was ‘reserved’ just for them. If anybody has been to Inskip before and experienced the influx of campers on Boxing Day, you will understand what a feat it was to keep their spot (good use of a Colorado). This spot was called ‘Back-of-Beyond’ but it was closer to the toilets. The next week was spent lazing around, visits to the lagoon, swims down the beach, some great new card games (thanks Debbie) and prac-ticing for New Years Eve.
We had a surprise visit from Oswald and Hannah who were camping at the Dorrigo campsite on 29 December but unfortunately were leaving the next day. Then Mossy contacted us to see if there was room for Tanya and himself for NYE, of course there was! They arrived just on dark and after a quick setup of the awning and swag, the festivities began. A great night was had by all and the evening produced a nice breeze so it wasn’t too hot or cold. A version of a card game Deb had taught us was played where the loser of each hand had to scull a shot. This was soon changed to the loser missed out on a shot and all the others got one; the night got ugly quick. Due to the current restrictions in the Cooloolah National Park, no fires could be lit however, a Star Shower plugged into a generator produced all the ambience necessary.
New Years Day saw a slow start and Nathan and Tanya packed up and headed back to reality. Our numbers slowly started to dwindle over the rest of the week as reality and re-turn to work dates loomed closer; Pete and Belinda and Deb and Ray left us on Tuesday 3 Jan and it seemed very lonely with our numbers literally halved. We still managed to enjoy lazy days of swimming and relaxing, saw a 15kg Golden Trevally caught of the beach, experienced a novel use of an 80 series Landcruiser (artificial reef), and witnessed many bog-gings by inexperienced and ill-equipped 4WDers. On Friday 6 January, 22 days after we pulled in, Ross and Steve hooked up their Camper Trailers and headed back to Brisvegas.
Highlights of the trip were the wonderful people who all pulled together to make it a most enjoyable time, new friends were made and laughs were had by all. The weather was a significant bonus; whilst it poured all around us, in the 22 days we were there, we only experienced 3 nights of intermittent showers and everybody had dry pack-ups regardless of when they left. Planning has already commenced for next year and the project is to design, develop and test a wind turbine to charge 12v batteries prior to next year. If anyone has any insight, please don’t hesitate to share.
Regards,
Ross Clark
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